Reuben Hazell departs Shrewsbury Town with mixed emotions
Departing defender Reuben Hazell today admitted to being “gutted” not to have played a bigger role at Shrewsbury Town as he begins to contemplate life away from the Greenhous Meadow.
Hazell brought his 15-month stint at Shrewsbury to an end yesterday when he reached a mutual decision to cancel the remainder of his contract, which was due to expire at the end of this season.
The 33-year-old, who suffered a serious knee injury against Torquay last September which ruled him out for the rest of the season, made just 11 starts for Town. “I have got a lot of mixed emotions,” he said.
“I’m gutted it hasn’t worked out and I’m most disappointed I didn’t get the chance to do what I set out to do at Shrewsbury and that’s to play more games.
“But I’ve really enjoyed my time there. It’s a cracking club that does everything to the best of its ability.
“It’s very professional, the manager is level-headed, the coaching staff are excellent and the fans have been fantastic to me.
“Every message I’ve had has been positive and that’s been fantastic considering I haven’t played many games.
“I would like to have been more involved but the promotion last season was awesome.
“I had a good chat with the manager and he didn’t think I would play very much again.
“We talked about me going out on loan and then seeing where I was in January but you have to weigh things up and make a decision.” Hazell, who started out as a youngster with Aston Villa and has since had spells with Tranmere, Torquay, Chesterfield and Oldham, played just three games this season and has not featured since last month’s 1-0 home defeat to Scunthorpe.
The highlight of his Town career was skippering Shrewsbury in last season’s Carling Cup clash at Arsenal, the club he supports.
Hazell now intends to pursue other ventures, including a catering business in the Midlands.
“We will see how things are going in January,” he added.